National Review: Republicans Reach Out to Minority Voters

After the 2012 elections, critics opined that the GOP was on the road to demographic extinction. “Its supporters are predominantly white and increasingly old,” they said, “and the country is diverse and filled with the young.” “The future,” they declared, “rests with the young and minorities.”

The Republican National Committee seems to agree.

Seeking to end the assumption that most minorities will inevitably support the Democratic party, the RNC launched an official review of Republican strategy called the Growth & Opportunity Project. With a special emphasis on attracting young and minority voters, this arm of the GOP has joined with candidates and lawmakers across the country to take the message of freedom and economic opportunity to communities that rarely receive visits from Republicans.

“We’re all focused on showing up in the places where we have not necessarily always been in the past in order to share our message,” Orlando Watson, the RNC’s communications director for black media, told me. He said the RNC has begun minority outreach in Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, North Carolina, and other states. “We have to share the message of economic growth and education reform with people and let them know that we do care, we are present, and we try to create opportunity for everyone.”